ARS | Publication request: BOUNDARY FRICTION PROPERTIES OF VEGETABLE OILS FOR METALWORKING APPLICATION

Submitted to: World Conference and Exhibition on Oilseed and Edible, Industrial and Speci
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 16, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Most vegetable oils are considered functional fluids since they have at least one functional group (an ester) and are also liquid at room temperature. This property allows vegetable oils to be used in lubricant formulations as base oils and/or boundary additives. Successful application of vegetable oils in lubricant formulations requires understanding the effect of vegetable oil chemistry on both their hydrodynamic and boundary properties. One of the factors that affect the boundary lubrication properties of vegetable oils is its adsorption properties onto friction surfaces. This property must match the requirements of the tribological process (e.g., metalworking) in order to prevent contact and damage of friction surfaces. Adsorption occurs mainly due to the interaction of the functional groups of the vegetable oils with the friction surfaces and can be quantified using free energy adsorption terms. In this paper, the effect of vegetable oil chemistry on its free energy of adsorption on steel is discussed. Several vegetable oils with varying chemical properties have been investigated. The effects of degree of functionality, chain length, and degree of unsaturation on free energy of adsorption are discussed.